Multi-purpose Dough

This isn’t exactly a new recipe and there’s a chance you’ve made it before. A while back, I realized that the dough I created for my chicken and dumplings recipe was versatile enough to use for other recipes as well. I made my chicken and dumplings this weekend and decided to photograph the dough and make it a recipe on it’s own. That way, I can reference this post while writing future recipes and you can experiment with using it in your own recipes. Something tells me a versatile gluten, grain, and dairy free paleo dough could be pretty handy for a lot of people!… ok, a small group of people.

I know making your own dough from scratch seems like a lot of work but it’s really not. Especially compared to conventional dough where you have to proof the yeast, let the dough rise, and all that other fancy Betty Crocker stuff that nobody has time for. Ok, so I do make time for those things occasionally but sometimes you have to prioritize time for yourself and your hobbies. And food.

Anyways, the quick, no-mess version of this recipe is to just mix it all in a medium dishwasher safe mixing bowl. If you’re going to roll the dough out, lay down parchment paper and stick it to the counter with painters tape, then dust the paper and rolling pin with tapioca starch. It’s really not bad at all!

Tips

This dough is very sensitive to moisture. Only add water a small amount at a time. If the dough feels slightly “tacky”, then the moisture level is perfect because it will pick up more starch when you roll it out.

Because of it’s sensitivity to moisture, I would avoid using it in recipes that contain a lot of wet ingredients before baking. It holds up great to pizza sauces and such once it has been baked.

I don’t know what starches can be substituted for tapioca starch so I’d recommend sticking with that. I’ve attempted replacing it with potato starch but the dough cracked too easily.

When baking, note that the dough will not brown. It cooks very quickly due to the low moisture content and if it starts to brown, it will likely be overbaked and hard. See the below recipes to get an idea of an appropriate baking time/temperature for your recipe and do the “toothpick check” for doneness earlier than you think.

Although this dough is “multi-purpose”, it is definitely not “all purpose”. The dough turns out soft and fluffy like bread with a thin, flaky crust so things like biscuits, bread, bagels, cinnamon rolls, etc work great. Things like spring roll wrappers, noodles, flaky pastries that use things like puff pastry or phyllo dough, and flaky pie crusts likely won’t work (although I’ve had many readers tell me it makes a great pie crust but I haven’t tried this for myself yet).

Recipes

If you need some inspiration of what to make with this dough, here’s a list of all the recipes I’ve used it in so far:

Comments

I’ve never had pasties so I’m trying to look into this. So they’re stuffed, fried meat pies? Is the crust thin and flaky like a pie crust? If so, I think this dough rises too much even with the baking powder omitted. It stays soft and chewy. If that texture is ok, the dough is very easy to stuff and fry, as long as there’s not too much liquid in the filling. The starch will get gummy with too much liquid. I recommend following the instructions for my fried tuna melt pocket sandwiches and replacing the filling with filling of your choice. Hope that helps! Just let me know if you have any questions.

A pastie does have a flaky pastry similar to a pie crust, it does have a filing of meat and finely diced potato and carrot… there are other ingredients that vary but pepper must be included…. the pasties are baked in the oven much like a pie. At least that’s how we do them in South Australia.

It should be used immediately. Once the baking powder is wet, it’s already been activated. Sometimes I’ll mix the dry ingredients together (without baking powder) and store in the fridge for later. When it comes time to make the dough, I’ll stir in the baking powder then add the wet ingredients. Saves a little time but not much.

Hi Candra! I’ve been wondering that too. I’m actually going to try it soon. The dough doesn’t get flaky – it is soft on the inside with a crust on the outside. I’m wondering if adding some lard or butter might help with that. If you try it, know that the dough will bake relatively fast and if it goes too long, you may get a thicker crust than you’d like.

Hey Candra. Just wanted to give you a quick update… I tried making this into biscuits and although they weren’t flaky like a traditional biscuit, they had a great flavor and texture – crusty on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. I was able to make 6 biscuits, each about the diameter of a coffee mug. Bake at 350º for 10-13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Thanks for the update! I didm’t know you replied haha
I tried them as biscuits, kind of just cookie cuttered them, and they turned out super hard and dense. Does that sound like I did something wrong? Would more butter help like you mentioned?

Sorry that didn’t work out! I didn’t find that they needed butter and made the recipe as written. Actually, somebody else ended up with a hard and dense result and they figured out they accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder. Could that have happened to the biscuits you made? The same result can happen if your baking powder is bad. You can check to see if it’s working by adding a teaspoon to 1/3 cup of hot water and watching for foam/bubbles The foaming means it’s working.

Thanks for your question, Larissa. I would say to try a different starch like arrowroot but I’m assuming you aren’t eating a lot of starches with candida? I am experimenting with this dough this weekend and I wish I could pick up some spelt to see if it works but since my gluten intolerance is so severe, even working with the ingredient is too dangerous. However, I believe you can use it, at least for the chicken and dumplings recipe if not, other recipes too. This recipe is actually based on my family’s traditional chicken and dumpling recipe. It’s the exact same process and ingredients except you would have to replace the almond flour and tapioca starch with 3 cups of white flour. Since spelt is considered a 1:1 substitution for common wheat flour, I believe you can use this substitution. If you decide to try it out, I’d be really interested in hearing how it works out and what you use it for.

Bake in a loaf pan lined with parchment paper at 350ºF for about 35 minutes. Do your best to get all the creases out of the dough or put the creased parts at the bottom on the pan. Here’s a link to the bread recipe with more tips: http://www.poshpaleo.com/everyday-bread/
It’s not so great at holding a lot of sandwich toppings but you can easily do thinner sandwiches (pb&j, grilled ham & cheese,…). It also makes wonderful sliced bread at dinner or toast with breakfast.

Hi, Anette. I was going to guess no but I decided to try it out and it worked! I thought the bun would crumble but it’s actually pretty sturdy. Make the dough as instructed and divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball and flatten to the diameter of a hamburger patty (it will rise in the oven). I kept the top slightly domed to make it look pretty. The trick is to make sure you don’t have any cracks or the dough will develop crevices when baked. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes. You will know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Hi Katie. I attempted to make this dough yesterday without the ingredients you mentioned but I haven’t had any luck so far. I will definitely keep trying though. In the meantime, have you ever been on Brittany Angell’s website? She does a lot of allergen free baking and I completely trust the quality of her recipes. You might try using the recipe search section on her site to see if she has anything that might work for you. I also spoke to a friend with egg allergies and she recommended either applesauce or an egg replacer called “Ener G”. I’ll definitely let you know if I figure it out!

You may have sparked some new imagination for me.
How do you guess it would work as a substitute for bisquick? I just remembered a recipe I have missed due to gluten sensitivity, cow dairy intolerance (goat works great) and who knows what else. Still reaearching.
It is called tuna cheese twist. You make up a warm tuna stuffing and spread it down the center third of a rolled out oblong of (bisquick) dough. The outer two-thirds of the dough are sliced up to the center third then braided across the top if that third over the stuffing. Brush with butter and bake. It is awesome. I just wonder if your dough might work?

Oh my gosh, you’re making me hungry! That sounds so good. I believe this dough will work great for that recipe. The only tricky part is that the dough won’t be as easy to manipulate without cracking since there’s no gluten in it. What works best for me while making recipes like my taco ring or cinnamon rolls is to make sure the dough is smooth but slightly sticky to the touch. Too dry and it will crack, too wet and it will stick to your worksurface. Remember to dust the worksurface and rolling pin with some tapioca starch so the dough lifts right off. Pretty sure this would bake best at 350ºF but know that it will bake relatively fast so keep an eye on it.

Oh, no. I’m so sorry to hear that, Anette. The only thing that comes to mind is that it could be the way the “flours” were measured. I’m not sure if there’s any sort of “standard” way to measure tapioca starch and almond flour but I used a spoon to add it to the measuring cup then leveled off with the back of a knife (no packing), just like you would white flour. Did the hamburger rolls rise at all? They may not have risen if baking soda was accidentally used in place of baking powder or if your baking powder went bad. To test to see if your baking powder is still good, add a tsp to 1/3 cup of hot water and watch for foam/bubbles The foaming means it’s working. Also, tapioca flour cannot be used in place of tapioca starch. That would make the bread very dense and hard. Just some ideas… I haven’t had any issues with baking this dough yet so I’m not sure where to troubleshoot.

My second attempt at making rolls worked! I think you were right suggesting I may have used baking soda instead of powder the first time. So glad I gave it another try. The roll held together beautifully, was soft and chewy. Yay! Thanks, Megan!

Just wondering if you pre-bake this dough when making pizza before adding cheese and toppings or if you put it all in the oven together like a traditional pizza? I’m always looking for a better paleo pizza crust and I’m excited to try yours! Thanks :)

Hi Kinnon. Yes, you’ll want to pre-bake it at 400ºF for about 10 minutes before adding toppings. I’ve tried skipping that step and the middle of the crust never cooked. I have recipes using it to make a soft crust or a thin crust pizza but of course you can add whatever toppings you like.

Hi Linda. Unfortunately coconut flour won’t work and I haven’t tried rice or buckwheat. What I usually recommend for people with nut allergies is to buy some sunflower seeds (without the shell) and grind them up in a food processor. It behaves the same as almond flour. The only downside is that they’re high in chlorophyll and it may react with the baking powder and turn the dough green. Pumpkin seed flour is another good alternative but I’m not sure if it will cause discoloration or not. If you’re up for experimenting, I’m pretty sure you can just swap out the almond flour for another cup of tapioca starch. It will probably just be a little chewier and you may have to be careful about adding too much liquid. I hope this helps!

I haven’t tried that yet but I’ve been wanting to! I’m really not sure whether or not it would work. Usually, when I make tortillas, it’s a runny batter but that’s probably what gives it the crepe similarity. You might be able to omit the baking powder and roll the dough really thin for a tortilla but like I said, I haven’t tried it yet.

This recipe looks amazing but I’m trying to do low carb. Do you think you could substitute oat or wheat fiber for the tapioca starch? I don’t have issues with gluten but definitely do with too many carbs. Thanks for your thoughts on this!

Hi, Lori! I don’t have a lot of hopes for this dough being made low carb. The starch is pretty important to keep it fluffy and not too dense. However, I’ve never worked with oat or wheat fiber. I may be able to help more if I knew what you were wanting to make with the dough. I know all the almond flour and starch can be replaced with wheat flour if you’re making my chicken and dumplings recipe. Hope this helps. If not, let me know what you’re wanting to make with the dough and I’ll look into it some more!

Hey Leah! I haven’t tried it yet but baking the sauce inside might make the dough gummy like it’s not cooked thoroughly. The starch is pretty sensitive to moisture. I’ve always eaten my calzones with a marinara dipping sauce on the side. That might be a better option for this particular dough. Another thing keep in mind if you make calzones is that this dough cooks very quickly so you won’t see it brown much like a traditional calzone but it will get pretty golden in color if you’re frying it.

Hi Leah! You can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment up to a certain point but you’ll eventually have to knead by hand to get it fully worked together and smooth. I’d recommend switching to kneading before adding any water to prevent too much from being added (it needs less than you think!)

The first time I tasted the dough, it reminded me a lot of focaccia bread but then I started thinking it had more of a biscuit flavor. I haven’t had any “real” breads in several years so I may not remember everything that well… If you’re wanting a bread simply for spreads, jelly, butters, etc, I’d recommend using this dough to make my “everyday bread“. If you are wanting to use it to make some kind of sandwich, I’d recommend using the below instructions to make 4 buns:

Make the dough as instructed and divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball and flatten to the diameter of a hamburger patty (it will rise in the oven). I kept the top slightly domed to make it look pretty. The trick is to make sure you don’t have any cracks or the dough will develop crevices when baked. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes. You will know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

I keep thinking I should try this but it probably won’t rise much because the baking powder has already been activated once the eggs and water are added. I can definitely see the appeal of having a dough on hand for a convenient weeknight dinner or to speed up breakfast (I miss phyllo dough and canned crescent rolls so much! ;) ) However, the dough doesn’t typically take long to make and it would probably be more effort to store/freeze/thaw than it would be to spend the extra 10 minutes making it while you make your recipe.

Hi Brittney. Somebody else asked about this too. I keep trying to replace the eggs but haven’t had any luck so far. However, I have a friend who’s had great results using Chebe dry mixes with flax eggs as a replacement.Those are mostly tapioca starch so I’ve been wondering if I could swap out the almond flour for extra tapioca starch or tapioca flour and use flax eggs. I’ll let you know if I get a chance to try it.

To make one flax egg, mix 1 Tbsp golden flax meal with 3 Tbsp warm water and let sit for 1-2 minutes.

Great question! The brand I use is called “Hain Pure Foods” and it uses potato starch in place of corn starch. If that’s not an option, I’ve heard you can use baking soda with cream of tartar, as you’ve suggested, but I’ve never tried it before. I just looked it up online and it looks like 3/4 tsp of each should be equivalent to the baking powder in this recipe.

Please help! You have gluten intolerances and so does my little one. Do you believe in “True gluten-free”. It is the research based on Dr. Peter Osbourne of the Gluten Free Society at glutenfreesociety.org. When I took his advice and notice each individual grain as a problem (of course the ones also labeled “gluten-free”) I noticed it wasn’t some strange alien problem. Individually it was each of those grains. I took her off of them and started her on new supplements at four months “True gluten-free” and her skin healed completely. However, I’ve been having issues. Please email me or reply here. I really need to find foods that she WILL eat. My creative juices are not flowing in that department as well as I need them to be at the moment. In desperate need. Thank you.

Hi Kelly. I don’t believe this would make a good pie crust as its a little too fluffy. However, one reader has told me they used the dough to make a pot pie crust and they enjoyed it so it might just be a matter of personal preference. If you decide to give it a try, I’d recommend omitting the baking powder and rolling it out thinly. It may still fluff up a bit due to the eggs though, I haven’t tried it yet.

Do you think this would work for perogies. Traditional dough is mixed, rolled, stuffed, and Jen boiled. Later it’s fried. I’ve made a rice flour perogie before, but the dough was very finicky. (The taste was great though).

Hi Kristie. I’m honestly not sure. The dough tends to get pretty fluffy when cooked and I’d imagine you want more of a ravioli or pot sticker type texture. It might be worth trying it and eliminating the baking powder. Otherwise, I hear cassava flour makes a great 1:1 substitute for wheat flour. My good friend uses cassava flour to make her perogies. You might give that a try instead!

Hi Robin. Garlic bread sounds like a great idea! The disclaimer here is that I’ve never used this dough to make garlic bread but I’ve made so many similar recipes that I should be able to walk you through it :)

Divide the dough into 3-4 pieces and shape them like small baguettes. It’s best to make sure the dough is very smooth with no creases so cracks don’t form when baked. It will bake at 350ºF for about 18-20 minutes for 4 baguettes but will probably need an extra 5 minutes if you make 3 larger baguettes. Once you can insert a toothpick in the center and have it come out clean, they will be done. The dough should stay pale in color. If you wait for it to turn golden brown like traditional bread, it will be overbaked.

Once the small baguettes are baked and cool enough to handle, slice them open lengthwise and spread a fat of your choice like butter, lard, or olive oil on the inside. Sprinkle with garlic and a tiny pinch of salt. Alternatively, if you have fresh garlic, you can cut open a clove and rub the cut side on the bread before you spread on the fat. If you want the bread toasted, you can put it back in the oven at 400ºF until it reaches your desired doneness or even toast both sides in a hot skillet if that’s easier. I’d recommend only lightly toasting it so the inside of the bread stays soft. Remember, it won’t brown much in the oven but it will get crispy.

Thank you for this! I’m tired of having eggplants rounds as “pizza” but was having a hard time finding an allergen free (for me) crust that was easy and fast. This is it! I served it to my husband, who typically is not jazzed about gluten free foods. He liked it a lot. I can’t wait to try it other ways!

I’m so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed it, Erica! I know what you mean about good, “allergy friendly” pizza crusts being hard to find. I usually use this or a store-bought mix that I like too (Chebe).

I actually just made this into pizza bagels tonight. It was fun to have something a little different from my go-to crusts 😊

Hi Angela! I’m not sure, I’ve never tried this. I’m guessing it will work and you may have a slight flavor/texture change from losing the fat in the yolk. I would maybe add an extra egg white to keep the added liquid close to the original recipe. Like I said, I haven’t tried it but I hope this helps.

Wow, this is an amazing recipe! I’m planning on using it to make Paleo braided bread for Easter, which is made every year in my house. Quick question: after the dough is baked, do you know how long the finished product will last? Trying to figure out when I should bake it this week to have it by Sunday. :)

Hi Lizzy. Good question! After the dough is baked, it should last a few days in an airtight container. I don’t know how well it does unrefrigerated – I usually store mine in the fridge up to 6 days and reheat it throughout the week. It’s definitely best fresh out of the oven but if you need to make it ahead of time, I’d recommend baking it Friday or Saturday if you have the time. Another thing to think about is if you expect to have leftovers, you’ll want it to stay fresh after Easter too.

I made this last night and it is amazing! I do have a question, I had some leftovers and wrapped it in plastic wrap and left it on the counter over night. It was super crumbly today (no biggie, still gonna eat it) but was wondering if it would have been less crumbly if I had stored it in the fridge?

Hi Tiffany! I’ve found it stores best in an airtight container. Refrigeration makes it pretty hard but it always reheats nicely. I do prefer refrigerator storage though simply because it keeps longer than room temperature but I think as far as texture goes, an airtight container works best in or out of the fridge.

I just wanted to let you know that I have shared this recipe with SO many people and all of them love it! I have used it with my pizza crust and my chicken and dumplings and it is by far the best I have see anywhere! Thank you!

Hi Megan! I have waited until the last minute to find a a gluten free recipe for a dish we always serve at Thanksgiving brunch. It’s called Monkey Bread, it has frozen dinner roll dough, butterscotch pudding, butter, cinnamon and sugar. I’m wondering if this dough would work for this recipe or if you have any other ideas. I’m in a time crunch now. Could you possibly email me?
Thanks!!!

Hi Crystal. Unfortunately, I haven’t attempted monkey bread yet. I’m sure it can be done… my only hesitation is that due to the high amount of tapioca starch, liquids baked with the raw dough turn it to mush.

The butter, cinnamon, and sugar part will work just fine. If you usually use pudding, I’m not sure what will happen to the dough. It probably depends on how much you use. My pumpkin cinnamon rolls use 1/3 C pumpkin puree and they always turn out fine. My guess is that the dough will bake thoroughly with the pudding but might lose some of its shape.

Hi Krista. The dough tends to be pretty delicate so I haven’t had much luck with ingredient substitutions. Even using potato starch in place of tapioca starch completely changed the texture. That being said, I haven’t tried it with cassava flour. If you want to try it, I think it would be best to swap both the tapioca starch and almond flour for cassava since cassava can sometimes be a pretty good 1-1 substitute for wheat flour.
Another idea is to grind up some sunflower seeds into a flour (without the shells of course!) It works a lot like almond flour. However, you might notice the dough turning green from the chlorophyll in the seeds. Completely harmless but maybe not something you’d want to serve at a party.

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About Meagan

I started out with a passion for creating unique recipes and decorating cakes. In June of 2012, I discovered I was not only severely gluten intolerant but also, many of the foods I was eating I simply couldn't include in my diet anymore. Fortunately, my love for trying new recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods made re-learning how to cook seem more like a fun challenge than an unfortunate circumstance. I'm so happy to say that my dietary restrictions haven't stopped me from doing what I love. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do.

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